6 x Canadians Killed in Burkina Faso Attack

Six Canadians died in an attack on a luxury hotel in Burkina Faso, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Saturday.

Four jihadist attackers linked to al-Qaida were killed by Burkina Faso and French security forces hours after they stormed the Splendid Hotel and nearby Cappuccino Cafe in Ouagadougou, establishments popular with westerners in the West African country’s capital.

At least 23 died in the attacks, from 18 different countries, in the attack on the Splendid Hotel and nearby Cappuccino Cafe, establishments popular with westerners in Ouagadougou.

Trudeau issued a statement strongly condemning the attack that began late Friday and ended Saturday.

“On behalf of all Canadians, we offer our deepest condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of all those killed and a speedy recovery to all those injured. We are deeply saddened by these senseless acts of violence on innocent civilians,” he said in the statement.

The statement did not give any information on the identities of the Canadians. The federal government is normally prohibited from providing such information due to privacy laws …

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement condemning the terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, that killed several people, including six Canadian citizens, and injured many more.

“Canada strongly condemns the deadly terrorist attacks that took place in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

“On behalf of all Canadians, we offer our deepest condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of all those killed and a speedy recovery to all those injured. We are deeply saddened by these senseless acts of violence on innocent civilians.

“We have offered assistance to the Burkinabé authorities in their investigation of this terrible crime.”

Map of where Burkina Faso is in Africa:

More in the news on this attack here (Google News) and here (European Commission news aggregator).

More on the country here (CIA World Factbook), here (BBC) and here (Wikipedia)

A bit of its conflict history at the International Crisis Group (short & sweet monthly updates) here.